What does Premanand Maharaj Ji say about attachment versus true love?

Shri Premanand Maharaj Ji is asked often about relationships and attachment — how to love without attachment, or whether attachment itself is wrong. He says: attachment and love are not the same thing, and the difference matters. Attachment (aasakti) is love mixed with ownership. It says: you are mine, and I need you to remain mine for me to feel okay. This kind of love creates anxiety, jealousy, and grief — because the things and people we hold never stay exactly as we want them.

True love, as Maharaj Ji teaches it, is something else. It wishes the best for the other without demanding they fulfil our needs. A mother's love at its purest is like this — she loves her child not to fill her own emptiness but simply because this love arose in her heart. This is closer to divine love, and it is the love that bhakti cultivates. As your love for Radha-Krishna deepens, it begins to colour your human relationships too — you begin to love people more freely, less possessively.

He does not say: detach from your family. He says: love them without clenching. Let the love be real and warm, but hold it with open hands. Understand that everyone in your life is on their own journey, and your role is to love them — not to own their outcomes. When you love this way, he says, you actually love better. Your presence becomes a gift rather than a need.

Based on Shri Premanand Maharaj Ji's satsangs.